Stay Just a Little Longer
by crimsonmarie
Summary: Outtakes from the story 'Stay'
1. Chapter 13 Outtake

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters. I'm borrowing them.**

**I was originally going to post these when I finished the story, but since this chapter is taking me quite a lot longer than it really should be and I really hate leaving you guys for this long without an update, so I'll post these instead.**

**And more than likely, they won't be in order. I can't say that for sure just yet, but I'm pretty positive that I'll be jumping around with them. I will always let you know where they're from, though. Promise.**

**This was originally the beginning of chapter thirteen, but I scrapped it when I realized that it was going absolutely nowhere.**

~*~

***Edward***

"Alice! We _have_ to go!" I yelled from the bottom of the stairs the next morning at six. "You're going to miss your damn flight!"

"I'm leaving something for Bella! I'll be there in just a minute!"

I growled up at the direction of her voice and stomped over to sit at the table, crossing my arms over my chest.

I was pissy, yes. It was six in the morning, Bella had left for work twenty minutes ago, and I was left with the task of corralling my little sister _on my fucking vacation_.

It didn't help that Alice had kept Bella at a safe distance from me all morning, either. She'd stubbornly insisted that she spend her remaining time with the woman that she also stubbornly insisted would eventually be her sister-in-law before she had to leave.

Bella had assured me that she didn't mind while I watched forlornly as Alice shuffled her off into the bathroom.

_She_ might not have minded, but _I_ sure as hell did. I didn't even get to kiss her before she left for work. I barely got to _see_ her as Alice shoved her out the door and demanded that I help her repack her two highly unnecessary designer suitcases as Bella's truck rumbled off down the road and away from me for the rest of the day.

And when we were done with that, she'd ordered me – actually _ordered _me – to put the damn things in the car while she got dressed and ready.

And _now_ she was leaving something – and I wasn't entirely sure I trusted her on that - for my girlfriend. If she missed her flight and had to spend one more day here, interrupting all this precious time with the woman I was completely in love with, it was altogether possible that I'd kill her.

I'd never be able to go home to my family ever again, but at this point, I began thinking that it might be worth it in the end.

"Alice!" I yelled again, listening carefully to hear her absurdly high heels sounding on the floors above me. "We _need_ to go!"

"Do you really want to get rid of me that quickly, big brother?" she yelled back.

"Yes, _princess_, I do!"

I winced when I heard shattering sounds from above me and groaned, unfolding my arms from my chest to lean forward and rest my head in my hands.

"Whoops!" I heard her sarcastically exclaim.

I fisted my hands in my hair and pulled, closing my eyes tightly and taking deep, even breaths in a sad effort to calm the raging urge to go up there and throw her out of the bedroom window.

And the feel of my fingers in my hair made my head snap up.

I needed my hat. There was no fucking way in hell that I was going out in public without it. Especially when I was in this kind of a mood; the last thing I needed was to get a hysterical email from Jeannie asking why the hell I attacked an innocent fan in an airport.

Hell, there wouldn't be a point in going back to California either. I'd have to stay here.

A grin lit up my face as I stood up, damn near skipping to the front door and grabbing my jacket off of the rocking chair.

I could stay here with Bella. I could always be with her. There would be no need to leave and no need to put myself through the kind of torture I'd feel at being away from her for an extended amount of time.

Maybe attacking someone wouldn't be a bad idea, after all.

"Okay, I'm ready!" Alice clicked down the stairs, her hands in the air as she walked over to me. "I hope you didn't like that vase you had on your night stand."

She smiled innocently as she grabbed her coat.

"As a matter of fact, I didn't." I smiled smugly down at her as she scowled and jabbed her arms into her coat. "But mom did."

"Fuck," she mumbled, snatching up her purse and slinging it over her shoulder.

"I have to put my hat on," I told her, smiling brightly as I grabbed my keys from the table and locked the door behind me.

The way I felt when just thinking about her never ceased to amaze me. I'd wanted to strangle my only sister a minute ago and now I was happily grinning at anything and everything in my path.

All because of one woman that had completely altered the way I felt about everything.

"That thing is ugly," Alice sighed heavily, shaking her head and mumbling to herself as she slammed the door shut behind her and followed me down the porch steps.

"That _thing_ saves me a hell of a lot of grief. It'll also keep you from being mauled, so you might want to be thankful for it."

"Why would I get mauled? You're the one they're after."

"But you're the one with me. That's bound to make people terrorize you, too."

"Have I ever told you how much I hate your career choice?"

I unlocked the car and crawled in, ignoring her as I reached behind my seat to grab the bandana from where I'd thrown both it and the hat after picking her up from the airport two days ago.

I plopped into the driver's seat and flipped down the visor to stare at my hair as I lay the bandana on top of it, quickly flipping the back down and knotting the ends at the back of my neck.

"You look ridiculous," Alice sighed as she plopped into the passenger's side seat and shook her head. "Absolutely ridiculous."

I continued to grin as I snapped the mirror back into place and closed my door, grabbing the keys I'd dropped from my lap and sticking it in the ignition.

"Yes, I know."

She rolled her eyes again, rummaging around in the duffel bag she called a purse before coming up with a pair of sunglasses and quickly slipping them onto her nose.

"When are you going to tell her?"

My grin faded and I glared over at her as I backed out of the driveway, my eyes landing on the empty house across the street as I straightened out and started my way out of town.

"I don't know, Alice."

"Soon, right? I mean, you're leaving soon, you know."

I grit my teeth together, tightening the hold on the steering wheel as I reached the end of the street.

"I'd really rather not think about that right now."

"You _have_ to, you ass! It's not going to go away! The only thing disappearing is you!"

I winced, hunching my shoulders forward as I stared hard at the small house sitting at the end of the road as I waited to turn.

I was aware of that. Acutely aware that I'd have to leave an amazing woman behind while I flew back to the other side of the country; this was not news to me.

It was damn near painful, that's what it was.

"I know," I said through clenched teeth as I turned onto the main road and began the twenty minute trek to get on the Northway.

"You already know how she feels about you, Edward! I don't understand the dilemma."

She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouted out at the passing scenery.

"It's… Alice," I sighed heavily, sucking in a deep breath and sitting up straight in my seat. "It needs to be perfect, all right?"

"You can make any damn moment perfect, Edward. As long as you finally tell her and get it out there, it'll be perfect when it happens."

"I don't want to screw this up."

"The only way you'll screw anything up is if you don't tell her before you go. Do you think it's fair to leave here without telling her how you really feel about her?"

"No," I said quietly, licking my lips as I did my best to relax my hands on the steering wheel.

"Then don't you think you should do something soon?"

"I will. Just because you rushed head first into it with Jasper doesn't mean that I have to do the same with Bella."

"At least he always knew how I felt about him," she reasoned, one of her eyebrows arching over the top of her over-sized sunglasses. "He never had to second guess anything."

"Who says she's second guessing anything?" I looked over at her, my neck nearly snapping at the motion as the panic welled up in my throat. "Did she say something?"

"Oh, good Christ," she mumbled, shaking her head and placing a hand on her forehead. "You need to tell her, Edward. The both of you need to get it out in the open because it's damn obvious to the rest of us."

I looked back at the road, momentarily biting my bottom lip as I maneuvered around a wayward trash can sitting haphazardly on the side of the road.

"It is?"

"Almost like you smack me in the face with it each time I'm in the same room with you two. Tell her, Edward. You already know that you won't be shot down because you heard it straight from her."

"She's only falling, Alice," I mumbled. "She hasn't gotten _there_ yet."

She was quiet and I could feel her staring at me, burning holes into the side of my head.

"You're an idiot."

I pursed my lips.

"Thank you," I said dryly.

"Edward, when a girl brings in her best friends to meet you she isn't merely _falling_. She's _there_; she's exactly where you wanted her to be. Why you haven't figured any of this out yet is beyond me."

"It's not like I've got much experience in this whole being in love thing, Alice!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air and letting them fall against the wheel again. "How the hell am I supposed to know what any of it means?"

"You should know how you feel and that's all that should matter to you right now. You know how you feel when you're with her and you know how you feel about her, right?"

I nodded once, once again having to force my hands to relax when I realized that I'd tightened them around the wheel again.

"And you know how she feels about you, so I don't really understand what the hold up is."

I stared hard at the road in front of me, my eyes narrowed.

Of course she wouldn't understand what the problem was; she didn't have as many obstacles to deal with when she found Jasper. She wasn't living clear across the country from him when she realized that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him and she hadn't started her fashion line yet. She didn't have to deal with any of the same things that I did when it came to Bella and it only managed to piss me off again.

"I'm fucking terrified! That's what the damn hold up is!" I finally shouted, sucking in another deep breath as I concentrated even more on the road in front of me.

If that was at all possible.

She was quiet for a few moments and I swallowed hard, forcing myself to relax and lean back against the seat I hadn't realized I'd lurched myself up from as my temper died down.

I hadn't intended on telling my little sister how the beautiful neighbor I'd gotten myself thankfully tangled up in scared the shit out of me. No, that hadn't been a part of the conversation plan I'd carefully crafted in my head.

But there it was; out in the open and dangling just in front of our noses.

There had _never_ been anyone else in my entire life that had made me feel something like this. I'd never had such a strong pull, such a solid connection with another woman before and as much as I loved it, I didn't know what to do with it.

The one person that I could see spending the rest of my life with and I wouldn't be able to see her for long periods of time. Phone calls don't measure up to the same sort of relationship when I've already come to depend on seeing her every day.

I won't be able to see her expressions, I won't be able to read her face or know when she's upset about something, I won't be able to pull her into my arms and be able to _know_ that everything was going to be okay just because I had her.

Bella had the power to crush me and giving my heart out to her to hold in the palm of her hand wasn't turning out to be as easy as I initially thought it would be.

"Of what?" she finally asked softly.

I grit my teeth together again, clenching my jaw shut.

"Of what, Edward?" she demanded, reaching over and smacking my leg.

"Of her not feeling the same about me once I'm gone," I ground out, quickly glaring over at her before looking back at the road.

She was quiet again and I swallowed hard, nervously twisting my hands around the steering wheel.

She wasn't supposed to be quiet. She was supposed to be the good little sister I'd come to count on to tell me that my fears were irrational.

_Why wasn't she saying that?_

"Do you know what she said to me this morning?" she asked quietly, taking her sunglasses off of her nose and holding them in her lap.

"You wouldn't let me anywhere near her this morning," I grumbled. "How would I know what she said?"

"I asked her how she felt about you leaving because she always seems so calm about the whole idea. She told me that it was going to be hard and it was going to hurt," she paused, probably to draw out the suspense and drive me crazy before continuing, "but she loved you enough to wait for you to come back home to her."

The snapping that I'd felt yesterday morning happened again and I sucked in yet another breath, desperately wanting to turn the car around and just… _find her_.

Find her, gather her in my arms and _never_ let her go anywhere ever again.

"You have no reason to be terrified of anything, Edward," she said softly, leaning her head against the head rest and looking over at me. "Her feelings for you aren't going to change no matter where you are."

My hands twitched on the wheel as we passed one of the many turn around spots littered on the side of the road and I breathed out an annoyed sigh.

"So tell her, okay? She deserves to know and you deserve to hear it first hand from her."

"Remind me why you couldn't just take a cab again?"

"And pass up this chance to annoy you and make you see reason at the same time? No," she scoffed, sliding the sunglasses over her nose again and settling into the seat. "I don't think so."

I growled over at her, pushing the speed limit as much as I dared.

I'd gotten a speeding ticket once during one of my stays and it had been one of the worst experiences of my life. The cop knew who I was instantly and had given me attitude even before I'd opened my mouth to answer him. I'd spent over a thousand dollars on that ticket and had no desire to do so again.

"When are you going to call Angela about that photo session?"

"I don't know," I grumbled, shaking my head.

That hadn't really been the thing that stuck out in my mind, in all honesty. Yes, I wanted to do it before I left, but with my impending departure date looming closely, I had more important things to be thinking about.

"You know what would be a good idea?"

I sighed, shaking my head again.

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"Have Angela take pictures of you and Bella together. This way you'll have something to moon over when you come home."

I tilted my head to the side, still staring at the road as I pursed my lips and nodded my head.

I'd never really thought of something like that. Having a picture of Bella would be a better improvement than not having anything at all. And while it wouldn't be the real thing, at least I'd have _something_.

I guess I was turning into that pathetic sap I'd always made fun of. Framed pictures of Bella and stressing over the perfect time to tell her I loved her had always been the types of things I promised myself I'd never, ever, _ever_ do.

And now I was. And I wasn't complaining one damn bit about it, either.

"Sometimes you're brilliant, Alice."

"Sometimes?" She scoffed and waved a hand at me. "I'm brilliant all the damn time, Edward. It's just taken you this long to notice it."

I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily. The airport had to be an _hour_ away, didn't it?

"Mom would love those pictures. When are you going to tell the rest of our lovely family about her, by the way?"

I shrugged one shoulder. "Soon."

"Sooner than telling Bella that you love her?"

"Oh, my God," I mumbled, bringing one hand up to rub my forehead in an attempt to get rid of the headache that was starting to brew there. "Give it a rest, Alice."

"I just want to know how much longer I have to wait until I get to plan the wedding."

"You are _really_ pushing things, Alice."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest again, shaking her head as she grumbled to her reflection in the window.

I shook my head yet again and sighed. A wedding. Right. I had to get through the dating thing before the wedding thing was even an option.

Although, being forever tied down to Bella wasn't really all that unpleasant. Being able to come home to her every day, seeing that smile light up her face when I walked in the door, being able to hold her in my arms and knowing that I didn't have to let her go if I didn't want to; that wasn't such a horrible image at all.

Smiling, I turned onto the Northway ramp when we finally made it there and completely ignored Alice as she began talking to me about the new designs she'd thought of while she was here.

No, it wasn't a horrible thought by any means.

~*~

Two and a half hours later, I was back in the car without Alice and on my way back home.

I smiled as I chucked the hat in the seat beside me, itching to take the bandana off as I pulled out of the confusing airport and onto the Northway yet again.

I'd waited until Alice got on the plane before I'd called my mother and told her that Alice was on her way back to Washington in one piece. And I figured that while I had her on the phone, I'd tell her that I was dating Bella.

Two birds with one stone and all that.

I was still trying to get my hearing back from the loud shriek that had erupted through the tinny earpiece of my cell phone. I knew she was going to be excited, but I'd never expected to go partially deaf because of it.

And I'd paced the length of the airport as I listened to her go on and on about how she was so happy and about how perfect the two of us must look together and about how she couldn't wait to tell my grandmother about all of it.

I'd just rolled my eyes and let her talk, thinking that Alice was more like my mother than I'd originally thought she was.

I'd been forced to tell her that I needed to go and had quickly hung up when she finally let me, all but sprinting out to the car and getting in as quickly as possible.

After all of that, I wanted to see Bella.

No, want wasn't a strong enough word.

I _needed_ to see Bella. I needed to get _home_ to Bella. Because Bella was home to me and I didn't want to waste anymore time than I had to being without her.

I had four more days until her vacation finally started. Four more days and I was spending the rest of my last week in this town with her. There wouldn't be any interruptions like her having to go to work or my sister interrupting us; an entire week completely to ourselves.

She could get the sleep she desperately needed and I could… just be with her. There wouldn't be an alarm clock to wake either of us up at an ungodly hour and I'd already planned on unplugging my damn phone. I wasn't going to check my email and I wasn't going to turn on my cell phone if we ventured out of the house.

But I didn't see that happening, either. I had more than enough supplies to keep the both of us comfortable for the rest of the week. There was absolutely no need to leave the house and I planned on keeping it that way.

Pulling into the bookstore driveway, I looked around, surprised when I saw all the cars in the parking lot.

It was busy. It hadn't been busy since I'd gotten there.

I sighed, happy that she was getting the business she obviously needed but a little disappointed that I wouldn't be able to have her entirely to myself for at least a few minutes during the day.

Fixing the hat back onto my head, I got out of the car and quickly walked to the door, pushing through it and meeting a solid wall of people who appeared to be waiting in line to check out.

"Sorry," I mumbled, skirting around people as I made my way to the front counter.

I expected to see a stressed out Bella, ready to tear her hair out as she sat behind the counter, ringing people out as they bitched and complained about the long wait.

Instead, I saw Angela standing there, a bright smile on her face as she happily rang out books and chatted away with the group of customers closer to her.

I blinked, tipping my head up to look around the crowded front room for any sign of Bella.

And why in the hell was Angela here? Did I miss something? Hadn't Bella said that she was a photographer? Hadn't Alice and I just discussed setting up an appointment with her this morning?

"Angela?" I asked softly, stepping up to the side of the counter.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said cheerfully, looking over to smile at me even as she continued to ring up the books sitting in front of her. "I'll be with you in just a moment."

I blinked at her.

I _did_ meet her and her husband last night, right? And I _was_ actually dating Bella, wasn't I? I hadn't fallen asleep and dreamed that all of this had happened, had I?

"Angela," I tried again.

"Sir," she said again, her previously cheerful smile now completely forced as she looked over at me. "I'll be happy to help you in just a minute."

"I'm looking for Bella," I finally sighed out, a little flustered and very confused about this whole thing.

I couldn't have _possibly_ dreamed all of this. I mean, it was all too real; I _knew_ how Bella felt in my arms, I _knew_ how her lips felt against mine, and dammit, I _know_ that Rosalie threatened me before they all left last night so why in the hell was Angela acting like she didn't know me?

"She's helping someone. I'm sure that as soon as she's done, she'll be able to deal with you. Until then, cowboy, please wait," she said under her breath, smiling brightly as she handed the customer her shopping bag.

My eyes widened and I licked my lips, quickly remembering that I had the hat on my head. How I'd forgotten about it was a completely different story, but now at least it all made sense.

I relaxed, nodding at her as I stepped away from the counter and took a deep breath.

I hadn't been dreaming. I wasn't losing my mind and most importantly, I _was_ with Bella. That's all that really mattered.

I walked around the front room, my hands behind my back as I stared hard at the doorway leading into the book room.

I could go in there. Nothing was stopping me. I didn't have to wait out here and watch Angela send me curious glances whenever I wandered a little too close to the front counter.

Things would've been so much easier if there weren't so many people around. And _why_ were there so many people around?

I sighed, my fingers twitching with the urge to run them through my hair as I continued to pace around the room.


	2. Chapter 12 Outtake

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters. I'm borrowing them.**

**An outtake to chapter twelve – when Bella was having Rosalie, Angela and Ben over for dinner to officially meet Edward.**

**I figured that even though it is completely something that Alice would do, it was a bit much for the first trip. So, out it went.**

**And yeah, it's kind of amusing, too.**

~*~

***Bella***

I was getting the silverware out of the drawer when I heard Edward come back downstairs, a scowl on his face as he walked over to me, turned me to face him and pinned me against the counter, his hands resting on either side of me.

I felt the room get just that much hotter, my lungs constricting slightly and my face starting to get a little red as his eyes met mine.

It was absolutely amazing what this man could manage to do to me with one simple look.

"Hi," I squeaked, grabbing the edge of the counter tightly in my hands.

"I'm apologizing now."

"For?" I asked slowly, clearing my throat and raising an eyebrow at him.

This couldn't be going somewhere good.

"She found your clothes."

I blinked at him.

"Okay."

"She's…" He sucked in a deep breath and leaned down to rest his forehead against mine. "I can't put this nicely. She's disgusted with your clothing choices."

He winced and I sighed heavily, closing my eyes and placing my hands on his chest, playing with a bump of fabric in his shirt.

Of course she would be. I don't think I owned anything other than my beloved jeans and t-shirts; a skirt or something frilly and girly was almost foreign to me and only something I wore when Rosalie made me wear one of hers.

And she's a _fashion designer_. Naturally she'd hate everything I owned. I don't think I'd truly gone clothes shopping in over a year and a half.

"I, on the other hand," he said softly, rubbing his nose against mine. "Have no problem with any of them. But she wants you up there."

I groaned and opened my eyes again.

"When does she leave again?"

He laughed and tilted his head, leaning in and capturing my top lip with this. I pressed myself against him, running my hands up his chest, over his shoulders and into his hair, quickly opening my mouth to his.

He was like some magic stress reliever. All he had to do was wrap his arms around me or kiss me and I was the non-exhausted, non-stressed, and non-freaked out Bella Swan that had one hell of an amazing boyfriend.

And I loved every damn second of it.

I rolled my hips against his and heard the quiet moan sound from his throat, his hands moving from the counter to gently slide up the bottom of my shirt.

And the way my breathing sped up was absolutely ridiculous.

It got even worse when I finally felt his hands on my bare skin, drawing slow circles on my back and whimpering at the electric shocks that were jumping around from his touch.

"Not soon enough," he breathed, backing away from me to trail a pattern of kisses over my cheek and down my neck.

I made some sort of strangled noise in agreement as I let my head roll back, my hands still in his hair and his hands still on my back, continuing the joyous patterns as his open mouthed kisses on my neck turned me into a compliant pile of Play-Doh in his arms.

"Bella!" Alice screeched. "There'll be plenty of time for that when you two are _married_!"

"Alice," Edward growled, standing up straight and turning away from me to glare at her.

Married? Huh? What? How long was I kissing him? How long had I been completely oblivious to all major turning points in my life?

I looked down at my left hand hazily, noticing that there was no engagement ring sitting there before looking back up at Alice standing on the top step.

I shook my head, clearing it slightly before finally being able to focus on her.

"What Alice?" I asked, having to clear my throat again when my voice came out as nothing more than a croak.

"I need you up here. Now," she insisted, turning around on her heel and disappearing back into his bedroom.

"Tomorrow," he answered, turning back to look at me. "Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'm taking her to the airport."

I smiled and placed a hand on his chest again, stepping up on my toes to barely touch his lips to mine before I reluctantly started up the stairs. I heard the silverware I'd momentarily forgotten about being placed on the plates I'd already brought out and sighed, shaking my head one more time to clear it a little more before I walked into Edward's bedroom to find Alice rooting through my duffel bag.

"Alice," I said slowly, walking over to her. "What are you doing?"

And to my absolute mortification, she pulled out a pair of my underwear and one of my bras.

"These are boring," she stated flippantly, throwing them on the bed before going back to rummaging around.

"They're underwear! What the hell do they need to be interesting for?"

She looked over at me, her eyes widened in disbelief as she dropped my favorite grey t-shirt back into the bag.

"Are you _serious_?"

I rolled my eyes and walked over to her, snatching my underwear off the bed and attempting to stuff them back into the bag. She merely snatched it away, pushing my hands away as I whined and crossed my arms over my chest, my underwear hanging at my sides.

"I assume you're going to sleep with my brother eventually, aren't you?"

My face burned and I threw my panties and bra back on the bed, holding my hands up in the air and shaking my head.

"I am not having this conversation with you."

"You need something interesting, Bella."

"I'm plenty interesting! What is he going to care about fancy underwear for?"

She sighed as if I was putting her in pain and placed a hand on her forehead.

"Have you never heard of foreplay?"

"Oh my God," I moaned, plopping down onto the foot of the bed and covering my face with my hands. "This isn't happening."

"I have something for you. Don't move!"

"I'm not wearing your underwear!"

"That's disgusting, Bella." She patted my shoulder and I heard her impossibly high heels clicking on the floorboards as she walked towards the closet. "I have a few samples of my new lingerie line that are probably your size. You're taking them."

"I'm _not_ taking them."

"Oh, yes, you are."

And before I could say anything else, she'd dived back into the closet and a few minutes later, came out with an entire bag of jewel toned underwear.

"Why would you even bring those here?" I asked weakly, my hands falling into my lap.

"I was going to ask for your opinion on what you thought of them." She shrugged easily, sitting down next to me and placing the bag in between us. "It's a good thing that I did."

I stared at the bag as if it might bite me, wholly unwilling to open the damn thing and find out what Alice considered acceptable underwear.

I couldn't even really _believe_ that I was a part of this conversation. It didn't make any damn sense. And what normal woman goes looking through their brother's girlfriends' duffel bag?

_Who does that_?

"Oh, Bella," she sighed in aggravation before snatching the bag and pulling apart the top. "It won't kill you."

"My underwear is fine."

"That's what you think."

I sighed heavily as she pulled out a matching midnight blue satin and lace bikini and bra set, proudly holding it up in front of her.

"What do you think about this one?"

"Pretty," I mumbled, nodding stiffly.

She clapped her hands together, nearly bouncing off the bed as she dropped the set carelessly into my duffel bag next to her.

I really didn't want to think about what the retail price might've been for a set like that from one of her lines. And she was just giving it away to me carelessly, stuffing them into my bag as if it made no real difference to her either way.

She went on like this for another ten minutes and I had half of the bag dumped into my duffel bag no matter what I said about liking it or not before she finally declared that my underwear wardrobe was now sufficiently stocked.

"Now we just have to work on the rest of your clothes."

I felt the color run out of my face, my eyes widening as she dived back into the closet to put the bag away. Thankfully, she stood back up with nothing else in her arms.

"We'll work on that later. Right now, I have to get dinner finished."

I breathed a sigh of relief as she clicked her way out of the room and down the stairs. I flopped myself back on the bed, my arms above my head and my eyes closed.

She really just gave me an entire pile of designer underwear. I was too afraid to wear it. It was probably more expensive than my monthly mortgage payment.

"Bella?"

I lifted my head when I heard Edward's voice from the doorway and smiled softly at him, getting up and walking to him.

He smiled and reached out to me, snagging my waist and pulling me against him.

"I thought she'd killed you."

"Close." I wrapped my arms around his waist and huffed out a breath. "She's exhausting."

He nodded, reaching up with one hand to brush hair away from my forehead.

"I saw Rosalie parking in your driveway, so I can only assume that they're on their way."

"I invited Ben, Angela's husband," I said quickly, biting my bottom lip. "I thought maybe you'd like to have another man to talk to."

He grinned broadly at me, leaning down and kissing me quickly a few times.

"Honestly, you two! Can't you keep your hands off of one another for five seconds?" Alice shouted up the stairs. "Edward, I need you to cut the garlic bread!"

He sighed heavily and kissed me again.

"If you think this is bad, you should see her on Christmas," he mumbled.

I laughed and gently pushed him away, dragging him towards the stairs as he whined and moaned all the way down.

"Bella," Alice stated, pulling the lasagna out of the oven as we walked into the kitchen, "would you get the wine out of the refrigerator and open it for me?"

I stared at her. She wanted me to open a bottle of wine. She wanted me to pull the cork out of the top with a very dangerous instrument to open a glass bottle of wine.

She was giving the clumsiest person in the entire world the job of opening a _glass bottle of wine_.

The last time I'd attempted to do that, I ended up in the emergency room because I nearly slit my own damn wrist. I wasn't even sure _how_ I'd done it, but I still had the scar to prove it.

"You cut the bread," Edward said quickly. "I'll open the bottle."

I relaxed, looking up and smiling stupidly at him as I walked over to the counter by Alice and started peeling the aluminum foil from the bread she'd just pulled out of the oven.

No sooner had I cut the first slice than we all heard a knock on the door. Edward froze, the cork halfway out of the bottle as he slowly looked over his shoulder in the direction that the front door would be. Alice smiled and started humming happily as she continued to place the cheese on top of her creation.

It was very entertaining to see the way the two of them reacted to the same thing.

"I'll get it," I laughed, setting the knife down and quickly wrapping up the bread again.

"I'll come," Edward squeaked.

Alice and I both laughed as he cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes at us, setting the bottle of wine down next to him. I walked over to him, hooking an arm around his and smiling up at him.

"It's kind of nice to see you nervous about something."

"I'm glad you see it that way," he grumbled, pouting as he let me pull him from the room.

I rubbed his arm with my free hand, linking our fingers when I reached his hand and winced at the force he used to squeeze it.

"Ow," I mumbled.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed quickly, letting go of my hand completely.

"Edward," I laughed, stopping us and turning to face him. "They will like you. I know they will."

"They might not."

"It's impossible."

"No," he laughed nervously, actually jumping when another knock sounded through the door, "it's really not."

I grabbed the sides of his head in my hands, bringing him down until I could look into his eyes and press the tip of my nose against his.

"You have become half of my world, Edward. I don't know when it happened, I don't know how it happened, but I don't care. They will see how much I care about you, they will see how much you mean to me and they will like you." I huffed out a breath, forcefully pressing my lips against his before yanking his head back. "Okay?"

I watched the lazy grin spread on his face as he nodded.

"You've got quite a way with words, Miss Swan."

I rolled my eyes and laughed, shaking my head as I let him go and walked toward the door when we heard another more impatient knock.

I flung open the door to see Rosalie with her lips pursed and an eyebrow raised at me.

"You do know that it's freezing out here, right?" she asked, stepping into the house without an invitation.

I ignored her, quickly ushering Angela and Ben into the house and closing the door behind them.

"Rose," Angela groaned, smiling at me and reaching out to hug me as Rosalie made room for her.

"Hey, Ben!" I exclaimed, reaching over when I stepped back from Angela and gently squeezing his arm as he stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"Hey, Bella. Thanks for inviting me," he grinned, rubbing his gloved hands together.

"No problem."

I turned to find that Edward hadn't moved from the place I'd left him in and rolled my eyes at him.

While I understood the mind numbing fear that was associated with meeting people from each other's lives, at least I gathered enough courage to _walk_ over to them.

So I sidestepped over to him, grabbed his hand and managed to yank him back toward the doorway.

"Angela, Ben, this is Edward," I introduced them, digging my almost non-existent fingernails into the back of Edward's hand in hopes that he'd relax a little. "And you've already met Rosalie."

"Relax," she demanded, shrugging her out of her coat. "We don't bite."

"Rose!" Angela exclaimed, back handing her arm. "Behave!"

"This _is_ me behaving!" she exclaimed, looking around the living room as she threw her coat over her arms.


	3. Chapter 15 Outtake

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters. I'm borrowing them.**

**An outtake from chapter fifteen. There were so many variations for this scene that it was insane and while I really do like this one a lot, it wasn't leading me to where I wanted to go.**

**It's fluff – lots and lots of fluff and sickeningly romantic gestures that ended up being really, really cute but ultimately went nowhere.**

**So here you have it.**

**Oh, and thanks for the reviews for this! I didn't expect to get any, so thank you very much! Much appreciated.**

~*~

***Edward***

She ran her thumb down the bridge of my nose briefly before gently running it underneath my eyes, frowning slightly at what I could only imagine were the rather interesting colored bruises.

It didn't matter how long I'd gone without sleep; those damn bruises and rings always made an appearance after the first twelve hours or so.

"You haven't slept."

I moved my hand from her back, slid her shirt back to where it was supposed to be and shook my head as I placed my hand on her waist.

"No," I said softly, "I haven't."

"Why?"

I took a deep breath, running my hand up and down her side as she continued to gently rub her thumb under my eyes.

"I can only see you and hear you," I started, licking my lips and shaking my head, "how you looked, the way you were…"

"Okay," she interrupted softly, moving her hand to place it over my heart again, "I'll stay home today. But only if you get some sleep."

"I don't see…"

"Let me up," she demanded quickly, pushing my hand from her waist and jumping out of the bed before I could even think to move.

I groaned, rolling over into her warm spot and covering my head with her pillow. I don't know what the hell she really thought she was doing, but the strength and energy I was sorely lacking needed a few extra minutes to get me out of the bed to go after her.

I heard her run down the stairs and stared hard at the fibers of my Egyptian cotton bed sheets as I kicked the blankets off of my legs.

I was getting closer. I just needed to turn over, bend my knees, put my feet on the floor and push myself off the mattress.

So much easier said than done.

Taking a deep breath, I turned on my back, throwing the pillow across the room and staring up at the ceiling.

Step one accomplished.

I groaned as I scooted down the bed and set my feet on the cold floor, flinging one arm over my eyes and taking a deep breath.

I was just getting out of bed, god damn it. If I could barely manage this easy task, how in the hell was I going to follow Bella to wherever it is that she'd disappeared to?

And God knows I'd follow her to the ends of the earth if it ever came to that. No matter how damn tired I might've been; the woman had me wrapped tightly around every inch of her.

I wouldn't have it any other way, though. I quite liked having someone to be wrapped around, someone to focus all my attention on and just… something to really _be_ with.

I lurched up off the bed, groaning unhappily once again as I leaned forward and rested my head in my hands.

I heard her coming back up the stairs and stood up, stretching my stiff body and crossing my arms on the top of my head.

"No."

I looked over at her, raising an eyebrow as she came back into the room with a book in one hand and what looked to be my iHome in the other.

"Huh?"

"Down," she pointed to the bed, setting the book on the nightstand next to her side of the bed before walking over to my side.

I watched as she set the black contraption I'd honestly forgotten I'd even owned on my nightstand and unplugged the alarm clock to plug in the iHome.

"What?" I asked stupidly, slowly lowering my arms back to my sides.

She looked up at me, shaking her head and reaching out to gently push on my chest, causing me to lose my balance and fall ungracefully back onto the bed.

I watched, dumbfounded, as the iHome sprang to life and she bent over it, gently dragging her pointer finger over the wheel of my attached iPod as she scrolled through my music.

I didn't even have the sense to ask her where she'd found either of those things. I was pretty sure the last time I'd seen either of them they'd been stuffed in a closet in my kitchen.

It had randomly came to life on its own one night and instead of just unplugging it and leaving it be, I'd stared at it for about an hour until I got annoyed with it and shoved it into the kitchen cabinet that might have housed cans of tuna for some unfathomable reason I couldn't remember.

I took a deep breath when I heard Vivaldi's _Four Seasons_ floating out through the speakers and could almost feel my eyes beginning to close against my better judgment.

"What are you doing?" I mumbled, reaching out and gently running my hand up and down her spine.

"You're going to get some sleep."

She adjusted the volume before turning to me and leaning down until she was eye-level with me.

"Bella…"

She leaned in, pressing her lips gently against my forehead and reaching up to slowly run her hands through my hair. I sighed, leaning into her and placing my hands on her hips.

"I'm not leaving," she whispered as she backed away from me. "And you're going to go to sleep."

"I don't know…"

"Trust me."

I met her eyes and slowly nodded, letting my hands fall back into my lap as she walked around to her side of the bed – it was most definitely _her_ side of the bed now – and snatched up the pillow I'd thrown. She set it on its side, punching it with the side of her fist a few times before sitting down and leaning into it.

I raised an eyebrow at her as I turned to face her, wondering what in the hell she might've been thinking at this point. I couldn't sleep sitting up. Well, I could, but when I had an entire bed right in front of me I preferred not to.

"Huh?" I managed again.

She snorted at me, grabbed my pillow, placed it in her lap and patted it gently.

"Come on."

"I can't sleep like that," I shook my head, pulling the blankets back over my legs as I crawled underneath them again.

"Have you ever tried?"

"Bella…"

"Edward!" she laughed, shaking her head. "_Trust me_."

She scooted down a little, adjusting the pillow behind her and patting the one in her lap again, eyeing me patiently.

"I feel like an ass," I mumbled, giving in and sliding down to rest my head on the pillow in her lap.

"You'll be a well rested ass, though," she quipped, one of her hands immediately winding in my hair.

I snorted and then sighed softly as her fingers gently combed through my hair, repeating their path once they'd reached the back of my neck.

Mumbling something I wasn't even sure I understood, I leaned up a little and threw _that_ pillow across the room before laying back down to rest my head on her stomach and wrap my arms around her thighs.

She still kept her hand running through my hair as the music flowed around us and I listened to her calm breathing, my eyes eventually closing on their own.

"I love you," I mumbled, unconsciously running my thumb up and down the side of her thigh.

"I love you, too," she answered softly.

And that was all that I really remembered before Vivaldi and Bella's hand in my hair lulled me into sleep.

~*~

I wasn't sure how long I'd been asleep before I peeled my eyes open again. I knew that I was still resting on Bella's stomach and while her hand had stilled, it was still resting on the back of my head. My arms were still wound around her thighs and I was perfectly content to never move ever again.

The iHome was still on, Tchaikovsky's _Swan Lake_ quietly floating around the room and I couldn't remember a time when I'd felt so at ease and relaxed.

I smiled softly, moving one arm to trail it down her leg and looking up at her.

She had a book – _Wuthering Heights_ – open in her free hand and I watched as one of her eyebrows quirked up, her lips pursing without looking down at me.

Hm. Drastic measures had to be taken, then.

I turned my head, gently pressing my lips into her stomach as I slowly trailed my hand back up her leg and rested it on her knee.

"Are you still tired?" she finally asked, her voice quiet.

I smiled again, shaking my head as I turned to rest my chin lightly on her stomach and look up at her again.

"I'm a very well rested ass, as you predicted that I would be."

She laughed, managing to fold down the bottom corner of the page with one hand before placing it on the nightstand next to her.

"And you're still here," I said softly, reaching up to brush the back of my fingers across her cheek.

I didn't know if I expected her to leave while I was sleeping, but I couldn't explain the way I felt waking up and _knowing_ that she'd stayed there with me.

"I told you that I would be." She grabbed my hand in hers and turned it over, gently placing her lips in my palm. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, curling my fingers around her hand and bringing it down to rest in her lap.

"I'm much better now."

She smiled, the hand in my hair slowly starting to move again as she squeezed my other hand.

"So what do you say to taking a shower," she started, "I'll make us breakfast and then you can shovel off your porch while I work on snow blowing?"

"Why don't you show me how to work that damn thing and then you can shovel?" I bargained, raising an eyebrow at her and smirking slightly.

"Because you'll hurt yourself."

"Says the world's clumsiest woman."

"I know what I'm doing."

"Then you can show me how to use it."

She pulled her eyebrows together, pursing her lips.

"You've done enough."

"I don't believe that I have."

"You're impossible, you know."

I grinned at her and nodded, finally sitting up and leaning against the headboard of my bed.

"I know," I said softly, leaning forward to gently kiss her neck. "But I love you."

I watched as her eyes closed and she reached up to place her hand on my cheek again, smiling softly.

"I'll never get tired of hearing you say that," she mumbled.

"Good thing," I said quickly, pulling back from her neck to kiss her cheek, "because I'm sure that I'll never stop saying it."

She continued to smile as her eyes slowly opened again, turning so that she could face me again.

"I never want you to," she said softly.

"Then it's settled," I decided, nodding quickly, "I'll never stop saying that I love you."

She laughed, leaning forward and wrapping her arms around my neck. I quickly wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into my lap, resting my chin on her shoulder.

"Good."


	4. Chapter 19 Outtake

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters. I'm borrowing them.**

**Instead of going to sleep, Bella decided she wasn't quite done with Edward for the night…**

~*~

***Edward***

She grinned, placing her hands on my cheeks and leaning forward to gently place her lips against mine. I finally worked up a little more of the energy I barely had and walked around the bed, slowly bending down and carefully placing her on the bed. Her legs fell from around my waist and softly hit the hardwood floor beneath us, her hands still on my cheeks.

I backed away from her, smirking at the pout on her lips before I stood up straight. Her hands trailed down my stomach as I did so and I sucked in a deep breath as I grabbed her wrists in my hands.

"Get in bed," I whispered, leaning down to kiss her once more. "You have to work tomorrow."

"And if I said I still needed you?" she whispered back, raising an eyebrow at me.

A shiver ran down my spine, my overworked heart pounding against my ribs again and my mouth suddenly going very dry as I felt myself hardening again.

"Bella," I managed, swallowing hard. "You need to get some sleep."

"I will," she said innocently, nodding as she worked one of her hands out of my grasp and reached forward to grab me in her hand.

Well, fuck.

"When I stop needing you," she answered quietly, her thumb swirling around my tip.

I gasped, letting go of her other hand and leaning forward to anchor my hands on either side of her hips and rest my forehead on her shoulder.

"Which will be…?" I panted as her hand gripped me firmly and slid down.

"Never," she whispered, ducking her head down to place a kiss on the bottom of my throat.

One of those damn strangled cries left my mouth again as I involuntarily thrust my hips forward into her hand.

"I'm always going to need you," she whispered, her hand moving in time with my hips. "That'll never change."

My mouth dropped open and I moaned into her shoulder as she swirled her thumb around my tip again.

"I need you, Edward," she whispered, nipping on my collarbone before moving her hand from me.

I groaned in protest, looking up at her as she slowly slid up the bed and laid down on it, her legs slightly parted as she met my eyes.

One of these days, I was most definitely going to take things slow with her.

Today, however, was not going to end up being one of them.

I grabbed her knees and yanked them further apart as I crawled over her again, barely giving her any time to react as I slammed into her. She cried out, her back arching as she reached out and dug her fingernails into my chest.

I grabbed her hips, lifting them as I continued to thrust into her, disregarding the flash of pain that her nails were creating in my chest as I concentrated on everything else that was happening.

How she felt around me, the way my name was falling off of her lips each time our hips met, the way her head was thrashing back and forth on the bed.

I began moving faster, leaning over her to gently bite down on one of her nipples. She screamed, her back arching again as she moved her hands from my chest and slapped them on the bed, curling the sheets into her fists.

"Edward," she moaned out, her breath sobbing out of her chest. "More."

I grabbed her thighs and pulled them on my shoulders, moaning almost as loudly as she did at all the spots I was now able to hit. I slowed my thrusts, clenching down on my teeth tightly as I slowly moved out and then back in again.

"Not fair," she breathed, shaking her head as she tried moving faster against me with her hips. "Faster."

"Not yet," I ground out, grabbing her hips tightly in my hands and holding them until she slowed as well.

She threw her head back into the bed, her arms raising to cover her eyes as she finally listened to me.

"Oh, God," she moaned, low and long.

I leaned forward again, kissing every inch of her breasts and reaching up to flick my thumbs over her nipples. She squeaked, wiggling around and ultimately, twisting her hips against mine.

My eyes rolled back in my head at the sensations _that_ caused and I lost it; pounding my hips against hers and relishing the tingling in the pit of my stomach.

"Oh!" she screamed, her hips working just as fast against mine again. "Yes! I'm…!"

"Bella," I growled, burying my face in her neck. "Bella, Bella…"

Her back arched yet again, her chest meeting mine as I felt her burst around me, her body shaking underneath mine and her hips jerking up into mine. I dug my fingertips into her hips, waiting for her to ride hers out before I finally let go, moaning and biting down on her shoulder as I stiffened.

She cried out again, my name falling from her lips as I felt her explode around me once more.

I did collapse on top of her this time, her legs sliding off of my shoulders and my breath sobbing out of my chest as I raised my limp arms to wrap them around her. I rolled us onto our sides and slowly slid out of her, holding her tightly as she snuggled into me.

"You are quite possibly the most," I breathed, swallowing hard and burying my nose into her hair, "amazing woman I've ever known."

"As it should be," she breathed back, looking up at me and gently kissing my chin. "I love you, Edward."

I looked down at her and gently placed my lips against hers again.

"You have no idea how much I love you, Bella," I whispered, my arm still limp and shaking slightly as I ran a hand down her hair.

"I beg to differ."

I smiled, kissing her again. "Go to sleep, love."

She nodded, burying her face into my chest and throwing a leg over my own. I took a deep breath and held her tightly to me, burying my face into her neck before I let myself fall asleep – completely tangled up and gloriously spent with the woman I love.


End file.
